The operations to install the country’s biggest gantry crane and make it operational at an outdoor warehouse in Mobarakeh Steel Company’s Hot-Rolling Unit have come to an end. This has set the stage for storing steel slabs and coils in a land 7,000 square meters in area and has created a place – a piece of land 6,000 square meters in area – for trains and trucks to load and unload.
The manager in charge of MSC’s logistics and side projects further said that the operations to construct, install and inaugurate this crane were conducted in line with MSC’s policies to develop exports and remove the problems which are associated with product loading via railroads.
Hamid Shojaei said the gantry crane is used for transferring materials in roofless areas in which the cargo can be moved along the rails in a linear fashion, adding the crane is mostly used in coastal areas and plants as well as in inland ports.
He said the operations to construct and install the crane came after the company’s engineering department was given a plan which had explained the problem associated with loading and put forward a proposal to build a gantry crane. Then the plan was put on the agenda of the MSC’s marketing department, he added.
For his part, Majid Nasiri, who is in charge of safety, fire and environment-related projects, said the overall length of the overhead bridge crane which has been installed in the roofless warehouse of the company’s Hot-Rolling Unit is 81 meters. “The space between double girders of the crane is 35.5 meters, and its console (outdoor lifting equipment and loading capacity) is 15 meters on each side. Given the path of linear movement which is now 200 meters, it has created a storage space of 13,000 square meters which is 10 meters high. The space is likely to increase in the future thanks to the continuation of linear rails.”
Mehdi Khosravian, an expert in implementing the crane installation project, said the crane’s capacity stands at 41 tons below the hook, with a lifting capacity of 30 meters per minute, breadth-wise movement of 100 meters per minute and linear movement of 80 meters per minute. “The crane operator sits in a special cabin which is connected to trolley and steers the device. The giant crane weighs around 500 tons. Its hook has been designed to be able to lift steel slabs, sheets, coils and containers. Due to its high lifting speed, the crane is equipped with a mechanical anti-swing system.”
He went on to say that groundwork operations – which include excavation (3,600 cubic meters) and using reinforced concretes (3,000 cubic meters) with a compressive strength in the region of 210 kg per square centimeters – were conducted simultaneously with operations to carry the crane parts to Mobarakeh Steel Company.
Khosravian said the gantry crane installed in the company is among the world’s most modern and up-to-date cranes and is Iran’s biggest gantry crane, adding the electricity this crane uses has been supplied by a powerful customer service line.
He further said Poolad Crane Company has built the gantry crane in cooperation with companies which are parties to the contract. “Iranian experts have – in less than six months – carried out all building processes of the crane including groundwork, foundations, rail laying, montage, installation, trial run and inauguration. The crane is now ready to be put into use.”
The inauguration of the project will help increase speed, safety and quality of loading, and will cut the cost price of products because it reduces the transfer costs, he said, adding implementation of a project designed to make train railways on both sides of the crane will help the company raise its rail-based loading and transfer capacity.
He then thanked all units and departments involved in the project, including the unit in charge of crane inspection, marketing department, hot-rolling unit, electricity distribution unit, engineering plant, transportation and material control units as well as Poolad Crane Company and MSC’s technical-engineering inspection unit. He also appreciated support for the project by the management of logistics and side projects.